Original image captured @ Historic 1930s Wray Home

(If you want to see more images of this beautiful place)

Ushguli is a community of four villages located at the head of the Enguri gorge in Svaneti, Georgia. Recognized as the Upper Svaneti UNESCO World Heritage Site, Ushguli is one of the highest continuously inhabited settlements in Europe. Ushguli isn't in an accessible location, which has preserved many of the village's most charming characteristics.

Ushguli is located at an altitude of 2,100 metres (6,900 ft) near the foot of Shkhara, one of the highest summits of the Greater Caucasus mountains. About 70 families (about 200 people) live in the area, enough to support a small school. The area is snow-covered for 6 months of the year, and often the road to Mestia is impassable.

Typical Svaneti defensive tower houses are found throughout the village. The Ushguli Chapel located on a hilltop near the village dates back to the 12th century.

King Tamar's castle originally had 4 defensive stone towers, of which one survives, connected by a curtain wall. The castles three other towers were destroyed by the Soviets in the 1930’s. The stones were used to build farms and other buildings.

Queen Tamar, also known as Tamar the Great ruled Georgia from 1184 to 1213, at the summit of the Georgian Golden Age. She was the first woman to govern Georgia in her own right.

A member of Bagrationi Dynasty and the only daughter of George III, King of Georgia, Tamar was born in 1160. Her youth corresponded with a significant outbreak in Georgia. In 1177 George III faced a rebellious group of local nobles, who planned to dethrone him in favor of his nephew Demna.

George III was able to defeat the uprising. Once the revolt was suppressed and eliminated, George started to include Tamar in government and crowned her as a co-ruler in 1178, when she was only 18 years old. This action was intended to stop any controversy after his death and legitimize his family on the throne of Georgia.

Tamar and her father co-ruled for six years, and when George died in 1184, she continued as sole ruler of the country by being crowned for the second time in Gelati Cathedral in Kutaisi.

However, her reign wasn’t met with full support. Another opposition came, perceiving her gender as weakness. As the country had never had a female ruler before, the nobles questioned her legitimacy and tried to use her age against her. The young queen was pushed into making important concessions to the nobility, including the removal of King George’s appointees. Thus, the aristocracy came into the center of power again.

Slowly Tamar started to gain confidence in her rights as a queen. The death of the persuasive Catholicos-Patriarch Michael, who was not a big supporter of Tamar played a big role in her future governance. She appointed her advocate Anton Gnolistavisdze as a chancellor and gradually increased her own power-base to high positions at the court.

After an unsuccessful arranged first mariage to Prince Yuri, son of the assassinated prince Andrei I Bogolyubsky of Vladimir-Suzdal, Tamar divorced Yuri and sent him off to Constantinople.

She then chose her second husband herself – David Soslan, an Alan prince and a great military commander, who became Tamar’s primary advocate and was effective in crushing the rebellious aristocracy united behind Yuri.

King Tamar and David had two children; Lasha-Giorgi, the future King George IV; and Rusudan, who later replaced her brother as a monarch of Georgia.

Tamar’s kingdom extended from the Greater Caucasus to Erzurum, and from the Zygii to the proximity of Ganja building a pan-Caucasian empire. The royal title increased and reflected not only her power over the regular subdivisions of the Georgian Kingdom but also introduced new elements that highlighted the Georgian crown’s authority over the neighboring lands.

Besides expanding Georgian territories, her governance brought a golden age in culture. Locals continued to identify themselves with the Byzantine West, rather than Islamic East. This period brought architectural development to the country when a great number of impressive domed cathedrals were built.

Tamar continued to be identified among Georgia’s ‘King of the Kings’, as the language has no grammatical genders, unlike ‘king’ in English, it does not significantly imply a male connotation.

The fruit, which looks like a plum, with a greenish tart pulp and a recognizable aroma - this is blackthorn. What is it good for and can it be dangerous to your health?

If we have never seen a blackthorn or tried its fruit, we are familiar with the plant from childhood. In "Uncle Remus Tales" by Joel Harris, Brother Rabbit shows us an example of reverse psychology and asks Brother Fox not to throw him into a blackthorn bush. He falls for the bait of the big-eared manipulator and throws him. That's what Rabbit needs - he hides among the sharp thorns and laughs mockingly. But today we will talk not about fairy tales or manipulators, but about the blackthorn itself. After all, it certainly deserves it.

So, blackthorn is a bush or a small tree with thorny branches, it blooms beautifully and is often used for decorative purposes. In autumn, it is covered with round fruits with a black-blue waxy coating on the skin and green pulp, in which the stone sits tightly. The taste is tart, sourish, and in order for the taste to “open up”, it is better to leave the fruits on the branches until frost. Blackthorn grows in Asia Minor, Western Europe, the Mediterranean, the European part of Russia, the Caucasus and Western Siberia.

Raw blackthorn is rarely eaten. But it is quite suitable for jams, compotes, liqueurs and pastilles. It can also be added to pie filling and used in sauces.

Blackthorn contains a lot of vitamins B, C, E, potassium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus and calcium. The fruits also contain organic acids, tannins, fiber (including pectin), flavonoids, catechins and antioxidants.

First of all, blackthorn is famous for its benefits for the gastrointestinal tract - it stimulates digestion, improves intestinal peristalsis, fights constipation and helps reduce gas formation.

Also, due to the high content of vitamin C, blackthorn is useful for the immune system. In addition to supporting the body's defenses, vitamin C helps to better absorb iron, strengthen blood vessels and stimulate collagen production. B vitamins are necessary for many processes in the body, but they play the greatest role in the functioning of the nervous system. Potassium and magnesium contained in blackthorn have a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system, working to prevent atherosclerosis, heart attacks and strokes. Potassium also helps to remove excess fluid, relieve swelling and reduce blood pressure.

It has been proven that eating blackthorn helps to reduce cholesterol in the blood, normalize the functioning of the kidneys and liver, and blackthorn fruits also have an antibacterial effect. In folk medicine, not only the fruits are used, but also the leaves and even flowers of blackthorn. All benefits and no harm? Unfortunately, it's not that simple.

Blackthorn is contraindicated for people suffering from gastrointestinal diseases. If you have a stomach or duodenal ulcer, gastritis, pancreatitis, colitis, irritable bowel syndrome, or just a tendency to diarrhea, you shouldn't eat it. And a healthy person shouldn't get carried away either - due to the abundance of fiber, it will be very easy to get diarrhea.

Blackthorn fruits contain a lot of acids that can damage tooth enamel. Because of the acids, people with inflammatory gum diseases should not eat blackthorn either. In addition, blackthorn can cause allergic reactions. And also, when eating fresh blackthorn, do not try to eat the seeds - they contain the poisonous glycoside amygdalin. It can cause severe poisoning.

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Терн: чем полезен и кому нельзя.

Плоды, внешне напоминающие сливу, с зеленоватой терпкой мякотью и узнаваемым ароматом - это терн. Чем он полезен и может ли быть опасен для здоровья?

Если мы никогда не видели терновник и не пробовали плодов, с растением мы заочно знакомы с детства. В «Сказках дядюшки Римуса» Джоэля Харриса Братец Кролик показывает нам пример обратной психологии и просит Братца Лиса не бросать его в терновый куст. Тот попадается на удочку ушастого манипулятора и бросает. Кролику того и надо — прячется среди острых колючек и издевательски хохочет. Но речь сегодня пойдет не о сказках и не о манипуляторах, а о самом терне. Ведь он этого, бесспорно, достоин.

Итак, терн представляет собой кустарник или небольшое дерево с колючими ветками, цветет красиво и часто используется в декоративных целях. Осенью покрывается округлыми плодами с черно-синим восковым налетом на кожуре и зеленой мякотью, в которой плотно сидит косточка. Вкус терпкий, кисловатый, а чтобы вкус «раскрылся» плоды лучше оставить на ветках до заморозков. Растет терновник в Малой Азии, Западной Европе, Средиземноморье, европейской части России, на Кавказе и в Западной Сибири.

Сырым терн едят редко. А вот на варенья, компоты, настойки и пастилу он вполне годится. Также его можно добавлять в начинку для пирогов и использовать в соусах.

В терне много витаминов группы В, С, Е, калия, магния, натрия, фосфора и кальция. Также плоды содержат органические кислоты, дубильные вещества, клетчатку (в том числе пектин), флавоноиды, кахетины и антиоксиданты.

В первую очередь терн славится своей пользой для желудочно-кишечного тракта — он стимулирует пищеварение, улучшает перистальтику кишечника, борется с запорами и помогает снизить газообразование.

Также за счет высокого содержания витамина С терн полезен для иммунитета. Кроме поддержки защитных свойств организма, витамин С помогает лучшему усвоению железа, укреплению сосудов и стимуляции выработки коллагена. Витамины группы В необходимы для многих процессов в организме, но наибольшую роль они играют в работе нервной системы. Содержащиеся в терне калий и магний благотворно влияют на работу сердечно-сосудистой системы, работая на профилактику атеросклероза, инфарктов и инсультов. Калий также способствует выводу лишней жидкости, снятию отеков и снижению давления.

Доказано, что употребление терна помогает уменьшению холестерина в крови, нормализации работы почек и печени, а еще плоды терна обладают антибактериальным действием. В народной медицине используют не только плоды, но и листья и даже цветки терна. Сплошная польза и ноль вреда? К сожалению, все не так просто.

Терн противопоказан людям, страдающим заболеваниями ЖКТ. При язве желудка или двенадцатиперстной кишки, гастрите, панкреатите, колите, синдроме раздраженного кишечника и просто склонности к диарее есть его не стоит. Да и здоровому человеку не стоит увлекаться — из-за обилия клетчатки получить понос будет очень просто.

В плодах терна много кислот, которые могут повредить зубную эмаль. Из-за кислот не стоит есть терн и людям с воспалительными заболеваниями десен. Кроме того, терн может вызывать аллергические реакции. А еще, поедая свежий терн, не покушайтесь на косточки — в них содержится ядовитый гликозид амигдалин. Он способен вызвать тяжелое отравление.

Dump two foot of snow, and cars become non recognizable.

Winter Storm Quinn.

AMERICA'S FIRST BASILICA

THE BASILICA OF SAINT MARY

Recognized as one of the finest examples of Beaux Arts architecture in the country, the Basilica of Saint Mary was constructed between 1907 and 1915. It's also the first Basilica in the United States, honored by Pope Pius XI in 1926. And it has been named to the National Register of Historic Places.

Dominating its own city block on Hennepin Avenue in downtown Minneapolis, the Basilica of Saint Mary is a grand architectural landmark housing a bustling and lively urban community. But the Basilica is more than just a beautiful building. It is a gathering place for people of all faiths and races, a center for the arts and a refuge for the poor. It's a community very much committed to the growth and social well being of Minneapolis.

Starting with Father Hennepin's courageous voyage up the Mississippi River in 1680 to Father Michael O'Connell's bold struggle in the 1990s to save the deteriorating Basilica of Saint Mary, the Basilica story is about inspiring, hardworking, and committed people. From the early Catholic pioneers who built simple log churches in the Minnesota territory to present-day community support for ongoing restoration projects in this ornate stone structure, this story inspires us. (info from the basilica of St Mary website)

++ follow me at www.facebook.com/pages/This-That-by-MsWanderlust/87670146...

Deep Dream Generator(Upscaler)

A Reworking of Original.

An End to Loneliness!

Prompt:-Two 'Female' Cyborgs Abandoned on a Galactic Scrapyard Recognizing Their forms Reach out to one another,Accurate Anatomy,Clear Distinct Realistic Eyes,Background Cosmic Sky,'mdjrny v5 style

I recognized the pattern, it was my grandmother’s “good” china. So good in fact it only left the cabinet once a year to be cleaned and returned unused.

A nice mid range set by a American company is currently hard to sell. They usually languish for weeks then are sold on half price day becoming someone’s every day dishes.

I guess it will take a couple of decades for them to return to favor.

junku.blog58.fc2.com/blog-entry-115.html

...is easily recognizeable by its prominent eyespots that probably help protect them against inexperience birds. Their wing span varies between 1 5/8 - 2 3/4 inches (4.2 - 7 cm). Buckeye's favorite nectar sources are composites including aster, chickory, gumweed, knapweed, and tickseed sunflower. Dogbane, peppermint, and other flowers are also visited for nectar.

Buckeyes prefer open, sunny areas with low vegetation and some bare ground.

ISO200, aperture f/5.6, exposure .002 seconds (1/500) focal length 240mm

Recognized, illegitimate child of Manfryd Redwyne and Denyse Florent.

Paragon_Madison - Contemporary Dance is out now at EBENTO.

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Product Description

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5 contemporary freestyle dance performance captured by former multi-champion Madison Cubbage recognized as one of the strongest competitors of her time. Contemporary dance is a expressive technical dance that has grown to be a dominant dance genres for formally trained dancers. The focus of it's technique typically combines the strong but controlled legwork of ballet with the emphasis of torso movements of modern dance. These were originally danced to a series of slow songs.

Dance 01 - Originally danced to "Confidently Lost" by Sabrina Claudio. Tempo = 114 BPM

Dance 02 - Originally danced to "Someone You Loved" by Lewis Capaldi. Tempo = 110 BPM

Dance 03 - Originally danced to "At My Weakest" by James Arthur. Tempo = 100 BPM

Dance 04 & 5 - Originally danced to "Train Wreck" by James Arthur. Tempo = 74.89 BPM

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About Madison Cubbage

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- Dancer for Todrick Hall (Forbidden World Tour), Ariana Grande (7 Rings MV), Calvin Harris, Little Mix, Forever in Your Mind, and DNCE.

- Elite Protege with The Pulse On Tour.

- Top contemporary dancer recognized as one of the strongest competitors of her time.

- 230,000+ instagram followers.

Facebook: www.facebook.com/madison.cubbage.35

Instagram: www.instagram.com/madisoncubbage/

Youtube: www.youtube.com/user/cubbagemadison

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ws7qq7NKs8I&t=4s

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWmrPZQU5fg

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Dance Pack Contents

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Paragon_Madison - Contemporary Freestyle 01

Paragon_Madison - Contemporary Freestyle 02

Paragon_Madison - Contemporary Freestyle 03

Paragon_Madison - Contemporary Freestyle 04

Paragon_Madison - Contemporary Freestyle 05

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Product Features

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◘ Bento hands/fingers (detailed finger articulation)

◘ Motion-captured on a 24-camera optical motion capture system for the smoothest and natural flowing animations.

◘ Authentically danced/choreographed and mocap recorded by Madison Cubbage.

*Licensed by Madison Cubbage*

☒ This product only contains animations with no audio supplied. Music used in our videos are for demonstration purposes only.

♀ Disclaimer: Female Avatars - This dance is not curvy friendly due to the size of the dancer and the expressive upper body and arm movements. Although adjustments to the arms have been made to accommodate female avatars, we aren't able to accommodate all shapes without compromising the natural aesthetics of the arm movements. Therefore, hand/arms clipping into the breast may still occur depending on your shape affected by a combination of several factors: shoulder broadness, breast size, breast buoyance, cleavage separation, and arm length.

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Customer Support///Store Policy///Product Redelivery

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We value our reputation as a brand with a high quality product and pride ourselves with a responsive and caring customer support. Therefore, we value your feedback. If you feel your purchase or experience with us isn't solid gold, then please tell us what we can do to make it solid gold.

For dance pack redelivery, go to the main store and use the caspervend redelivery terminal or the dance pack vendor.

For any issues with purchases, you can message us on Facebook (see link below) or in-world @jnakagawa

Send a notecard stating your issue and a copy of your transaction history. Please be mindful of our store policy:

◘ Try the animation demos in-world and double check before clicking "Buy."

◘ No Refunds, except on a double purchase.

◘ No exchanges. All products are copy, modify, no transfer.

◘ We don't do custom work, but are open to suggestions and will try to accommodate requests based on demand.

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Like/Follow us on social media and/or join Paragon Dance Animations group to stay updated on new releases, specials, and events.

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The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.

This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.

This species has the typical short-tailed, dumpy-bodied, large-headed, and long-billed kingfisher shape. The adult male of the western European subspecies, A. a. ispida has green-blue upperparts with pale azure-blue back and rump, a rufous patch by the bill base, and a rufous ear-patch. It has a green-blue neck stripe, white neck blaze and throat, rufous underparts, and a black bill with some red at the base. The legs and feet are bright red. It is about 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long with a wingspan of 25 cm (9.8 in), and weighs 34–46 grams (1.2–1.6 oz). The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black. Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and regrow. Some that moult late may suspend their moult during cold winter weather.

The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over water. The short, rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue "flash" down its back.

In North Africa, Europe and Asia north of the Himalayas, this is the only small blue kingfisher. In south and southeast Asia, it can be confused with six other small blue-and-rufous kingfishers, but the rufous ear patches distinguish it from all but juvenile blue-eared kingfishers; details of the head pattern may be necessary to differentiate the two species where both occur.

The common kingfisher has no song. The flight call is a short, sharp whistle chee repeated two or three times. Anxious birds emit a harsh, shrit-it-it and nestlings call for food with a churring noise.

The common kingfisher is widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and North Africa, mainly south of 60°N. It is a common breeding species over much of its vast Eurasian range, but in North Africa it is mainly a winter visitor, although it is a scarce breeding resident in coastal Morocco and Tunisia. In temperate regions, this kingfisher inhabits clear, slow-flowing streams and rivers, and lakes with well-vegetated banks. It frequents scrubs and bushes with overhanging branches close to shallow open water in which it hunts. In winter it is more coastal, often feeding in estuaries or harbors and along rocky seashores. Tropical populations are found by slow-flowing rivers, in mangrove creeks and in swamps.

Common kingfishers are important members of ecosystems and good indicators of freshwater community health. The highest densities of breeding birds are found in habitats with clear water, which permits optimal prey visibility, and trees or shrubs on the banks. These habitats have also the highest quality of water, so the presence of this bird confirms the standard of the water. Measures to improve water flow can disrupt this habitat, and in particular, the replacement of natural banks by artificial confinement greatly reduces the populations of fish, amphibians and aquatic reptiles, and waterside birds are lost. It can tolerate a certain degree of urbanization, provided the water remains clean.

This species is resident in areas where the climate is mild year-round, but must migrate after breeding from regions with prolonged freezing conditions in winter. Most birds winter within the southern parts of the breeding range, but smaller numbers cross the Mediterranean into Africa or travel over the mountains of Malaysia into Southeast Asia. Kingfishers migrate mainly at night, and some Siberian breeders must travel at least 3,000 km (1,900 mi) between the breeding sites and the wintering areas.

The common kingfisher hunts from a perch 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) above the water, on a branch, post or riverbank, bill pointing down as it searches for prey. It bobs its head when food is detected to gauge the distance and plunges steeply down to seize its prey usually no deeper than 25 cm (9.8 in) below the surface. The wings are opened underwater and the open eyes are protected by the transparent third eyelid. The bird rises beak-first from the surface and flies back to its perch. At the perch the fish is adjusted until it is held near its tail and beaten against the perch several times. Once dead, the fish is positioned lengthways and swallowed head-first. A few times each day, a small greyish pellet of fish bones and other indigestible remains is regurgitated.

The food is mainly fish up to 12.5 cm (4.9 in) long, but the average size is 2.3 cm (0.91 in). In Central Europe, 97% of the diet was found to be composed of fish ranging in size from 2 to 10 cm with an average of 6.5 cm (body mass range from 10 g, average 3 g). Minnows, sticklebacks, small roach and trout are typical prey. About 60% of food items are fish, but this kingfisher also catches aquatic insects such as dragonfly larvae and water beetles, and, in winter, crustaceans including freshwater shrimps. In Central Europe, however, fish represented 99.9% of the diet (data from rivers, streams, and reservoirs from years 1999 to 2013). Common kingfishers have also been observed to catch lamprey. One study found that food provisioning rate increased with brood size, from 1498 g (505 fishes for four nestlings) to 2968 g (894 fishes for eight nestlings). During the fledging period each chick consumed on average 334 g of fish, which resulted in an estimated daily food intake of 37% of the chick's body mass (average over the entire nestling period). The average daily energy intake was 73.5 kJ per chick (i.e., 1837 kJ per 25 days of the fledging period).

A challenge for any diving bird is the change in refraction between air and water. The eyes of many birds have two foveae (the fovea is the area of the retina with the greatest density of light receptors), and a kingfisher can switch from the main central fovea to the auxiliary fovea when it enters water; a retinal streak of high receptor density which connects the two foveae allows the image to swing temporally as the bird drops onto the prey. The egg-shaped lens of the eye points towards the auxiliary fovea, enabling the bird to maintain visual acuity underwater. Because of the positions of the foveae, the kingfisher has monocular vision in air, and binocular vision in water. The underwater vision is not as a sharp as in air, but the ability to judge the distance of moving prey is more important than the sharpness of the image.

Each cone cell of a bird's retina contains an oil droplet that may contain carotenoid pigments. These droplets enhance color vision and reduce glare. Aquatic kingfishers have high numbers of red pigments in their oil droplets; the reason red droplets predominate is not understood, but the droplets may help with the glare or the dispersion of light from particulate matter in the water.

For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_kingfisher

Nationally Recognized Important Historical Building Preservation Area

The Town Village still stands on the east side of the Miyagawa River flowing through Takayama, and in the middle of it is Sanmachi, where Edo period houses remain. The rich atmosphere of Takayama castle town still lingers, and you can see sake breweries and merchants’ houses with latticed bay windows standing in a row. This district was designated an area of important traditional buildings

The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.

This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.

This species has the typical short-tailed, dumpy-bodied, large-headed, and long-billed kingfisher shape. The adult male of the western European subspecies, A. a. ispida has green-blue upperparts with pale azure-blue back and rump, a rufous patch by the bill base, and a rufous ear-patch. It has a green-blue neck stripe, white neck blaze and throat, rufous underparts, and a black bill with some red at the base. The legs and feet are bright red. It is about 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long with a wingspan of 25 cm (9.8 in), and weighs 34–46 grams (1.2–1.6 oz). The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black. Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and regrow. Some that moult late may suspend their moult during cold winter weather.

The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over water. The short, rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue "flash" down its back.

In North Africa, Europe and Asia north of the Himalayas, this is the only small blue kingfisher. In south and southeast Asia, it can be confused with six other small blue-and-rufous kingfishers, but the rufous ear patches distinguish it from all but juvenile blue-eared kingfishers; details of the head pattern may be necessary to differentiate the two species where both occur.

The common kingfisher has no song. The flight call is a short, sharp whistle chee repeated two or three times. Anxious birds emit a harsh, shrit-it-it and nestlings call for food with a churring noise.

The common kingfisher is widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and North Africa, mainly south of 60°N. It is a common breeding species over much of its vast Eurasian range, but in North Africa it is mainly a winter visitor, although it is a scarce breeding resident in coastal Morocco and Tunisia. In temperate regions, this kingfisher inhabits clear, slow-flowing streams and rivers, and lakes with well-vegetated banks. It frequents scrubs and bushes with overhanging branches close to shallow open water in which it hunts. In winter it is more coastal, often feeding in estuaries or harbors and along rocky seashores. Tropical populations are found by slow-flowing rivers, in mangrove creeks and in swamps.

Common kingfishers are important members of ecosystems and good indicators of freshwater community health. The highest densities of breeding birds are found in habitats with clear water, which permits optimal prey visibility, and trees or shrubs on the banks. These habitats have also the highest quality of water, so the presence of this bird confirms the standard of the water. Measures to improve water flow can disrupt this habitat, and in particular, the replacement of natural banks by artificial confinement greatly reduces the populations of fish, amphibians and aquatic reptiles, and waterside birds are lost. It can tolerate a certain degree of urbanization, provided the water remains clean.

This species is resident in areas where the climate is mild year-round, but must migrate after breeding from regions with prolonged freezing conditions in winter. Most birds winter within the southern parts of the breeding range, but smaller numbers cross the Mediterranean into Africa or travel over the mountains of Malaysia into Southeast Asia. Kingfishers migrate mainly at night, and some Siberian breeders must travel at least 3,000 km (1,900 mi) between the breeding sites and the wintering areas.

The common kingfisher hunts from a perch 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) above the water, on a branch, post or riverbank, bill pointing down as it searches for prey. It bobs its head when food is detected to gauge the distance and plunges steeply down to seize its prey usually no deeper than 25 cm (9.8 in) below the surface. The wings are opened underwater and the open eyes are protected by the transparent third eyelid. The bird rises beak-first from the surface and flies back to its perch. At the perch the fish is adjusted until it is held near its tail and beaten against the perch several times. Once dead, the fish is positioned lengthways and swallowed head-first. A few times each day, a small greyish pellet of fish bones and other indigestible remains is regurgitated.

The food is mainly fish up to 12.5 cm (4.9 in) long, but the average size is 2.3 cm (0.91 in). In Central Europe, 97% of the diet was found to be composed of fish ranging in size from 2 to 10 cm with an average of 6.5 cm (body mass range from 10 g, average 3 g). Minnows, sticklebacks, small roach and trout are typical prey. About 60% of food items are fish, but this kingfisher also catches aquatic insects such as dragonfly larvae and water beetles, and, in winter, crustaceans including freshwater shrimps. In Central Europe, however, fish represented 99.9% of the diet (data from rivers, streams, and reservoirs from years 1999 to 2013). Common kingfishers have also been observed to catch lamprey. One study found that food provisioning rate increased with brood size, from 1498 g (505 fishes for four nestlings) to 2968 g (894 fishes for eight nestlings). During the fledging period each chick consumed on average 334 g of fish, which resulted in an estimated daily food intake of 37% of the chick's body mass (average over the entire nestling period). The average daily energy intake was 73.5 kJ per chick (i.e., 1837 kJ per 25 days of the fledging period).

A challenge for any diving bird is the change in refraction between air and water. The eyes of many birds have two foveae (the fovea is the area of the retina with the greatest density of light receptors), and a kingfisher can switch from the main central fovea to the auxiliary fovea when it enters water; a retinal streak of high receptor density which connects the two foveae allows the image to swing temporally as the bird drops onto the prey. The egg-shaped lens of the eye points towards the auxiliary fovea, enabling the bird to maintain visual acuity underwater. Because of the positions of the foveae, the kingfisher has monocular vision in air, and binocular vision in water. The underwater vision is not as a sharp as in air, but the ability to judge the distance of moving prey is more important than the sharpness of the image.

Each cone cell of a bird's retina contains an oil droplet that may contain carotenoid pigments. These droplets enhance color vision and reduce glare. Aquatic kingfishers have high numbers of red pigments in their oil droplets; the reason red droplets predominate is not understood, but the droplets may help with the glare or the dispersion of light from particulate matter in the water.

For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_kingfisher

Recognize this view?

Summer Sunrise on the Tidal Basin

Season of Photogrpahic Eye - picture 4

Week 46, Saturday

I didn't pick up any camera for a long time after my experiments with a cheap analog camera and Velvia 50. After many years doing something else, I did get excited with some of my friends DSLR. We did some photography like HDR panoramas and I recognized, again, my potential inspiration for photography but even if it was fun it didn't really trigger my own pursue for photography. It wasn't lucid to me then, but now I see very clear: I didn't have any real reason to shoot nor did I have a 'real purpose' for my photography. Of course I could have bought the camera and go shoot sun sets for example. But for what reason?

Part of my disinterest regarding photography related to technical obstacles as well. I had been more or less disappointed with all the earlier cameras I had been using whether they were analog or digital. My (relatively little) experience with them has showed me how difficult it was to turn ideas and images in my mind into real photographs that actually looked like something. Photography with an analog camera felt like a wheel of fortune and what came out of it was very hard to control. And the early digital wasn't much better, because it seemed to me that there were never enough light and most of my images turned into noisy and congested digital files that had nothing to do with the original image I had in my mind (or eyes for that matter). Of course I knew that others could create great pictures with big DSLRs, flashes, external lights and what else. I was never interested to go into that direction. I just wanted to capture things how I saw them in the first place (yes, I know it was a pretty amateur presumption at the time).

Finally all that changed when our daughter Aura was born two and half years ago. Suddenly I felt something extraordinary was happening in my life and I realized that I need to capture it before it passes away. I took the first images, again, with a loaned camera (Panasonic LX-5, if I remember correctly) but soon realized that I finally need to buy my own camera. I didn't have much money and with a help of a friend I settled for Sony Nex-5N which I didn't know about. When I got the Sony Nex-5N I was actually surprised to see it was so different from all the other digital cameras I had tested before. It was tiny and had pretty modest setup options, but when it came to image quality it delivered. I was so excited and surprised to have a DSLR quality (and better) with such a small package. Together with Sony 50/1.8 the Sony Nex-5N felt very liberating because I could suddenly shoot in any circumstances and get usable pictures. And because it was so small, I could carry it everywhere with an ease. Now that finally I had a reason to shoot and I had a great camera to go with it, my inspiration and creativity boosted up high and I shot over 26 000 images in first year. Finally the photo bug had found me.

Year of the Alpha – 52 Weeks of Sony Alpha Photography: www.yearofthealpha.com

I failed to recognize what phase of life cycle these insects were at. But their fascinating movements on water caught my eye. Unfortunately, I was with no tripod that added a problem to the situation as only trails were what's important in this photograph. I also wanted them to evenly spread across the frame. So I took many photographs on that day for all those concerns. Finally, I got what I wanted.

;)

Left to Right:

Legend, Legacy, Iris, Levi, Athena, Nyx, Hecate, Aphrodite

Photograph Taken January 21, 2012

The City of Washington should recognize this outstanding Queen Anne style Victorian for the landmark home that it is. It would make this one of the most photographed homes in town if the tangled mess of wires-which make it impossible to avoid them with any regular camera-were buried underground. The choice of colors here nicely complement the fine architecture. This house is located in a neighborhood having several outstanding Victorian era homes. Local coal and oil discoveries late in the 19th century brought considerable wealth to the town. Some faded homes from my last visit in 2009 were sadly gone in 2021 but overall, a fair number remain standing. Please pretend the wires aren't there...

The instantly recognizable Sword-billed Hummingbird is the only hummingbird whose bill is longer than its body. Its very long bill is clearly an adaption that allows it to feed on the deepest tubular flowers, although it was quite agreeable to feed on smaller flowers and nectar feeders.

These acrobatic birds are also good photographic subjects, because they tend to hover in the vicinity of the feeder or flower they are interested in. They are found in the higher elevations of the Andes, from Venezuela to the north to Bolivia to the south.

Looking north at some of the new buildings.. I donèt even recognize the city any more... a lot of change here

Lego Recognizers sized for MFZ:RA

The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.

This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.

This species has the typical short-tailed, dumpy-bodied, large-headed, and long-billed kingfisher shape. The adult male of the western European subspecies, A. a. ispida has green-blue upperparts with pale azure-blue back and rump, a rufous patch by the bill base, and a rufous ear-patch. It has a green-blue neck stripe, white neck blaze and throat, rufous underparts, and a black bill with some red at the base. The legs and feet are bright red. It is about 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long with a wingspan of 25 cm (9.8 in), and weighs 34–46 grams (1.2–1.6 oz). The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black. Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and regrow. Some that moult late may suspend their moult during cold winter weather.

The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over water. The short, rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue "flash" down its back.

In North Africa, Europe and Asia north of the Himalayas, this is the only small blue kingfisher. In south and southeast Asia, it can be confused with six other small blue-and-rufous kingfishers, but the rufous ear patches distinguish it from all but juvenile blue-eared kingfishers; details of the head pattern may be necessary to differentiate the two species where both occur.

The common kingfisher has no song. The flight call is a short, sharp whistle chee repeated two or three times. Anxious birds emit a harsh, shrit-it-it and nestlings call for food with a churring noise.

The common kingfisher is widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and North Africa, mainly south of 60°N. It is a common breeding species over much of its vast Eurasian range, but in North Africa it is mainly a winter visitor, although it is a scarce breeding resident in coastal Morocco and Tunisia. In temperate regions, this kingfisher inhabits clear, slow-flowing streams and rivers, and lakes with well-vegetated banks. It frequents scrubs and bushes with overhanging branches close to shallow open water in which it hunts. In winter it is more coastal, often feeding in estuaries or harbors and along rocky seashores. Tropical populations are found by slow-flowing rivers, in mangrove creeks and in swamps.

Common kingfishers are important members of ecosystems and good indicators of freshwater community health. The highest densities of breeding birds are found in habitats with clear water, which permits optimal prey visibility, and trees or shrubs on the banks. These habitats have also the highest quality of water, so the presence of this bird confirms the standard of the water. Measures to improve water flow can disrupt this habitat, and in particular, the replacement of natural banks by artificial confinement greatly reduces the populations of fish, amphibians and aquatic reptiles, and waterside birds are lost. It can tolerate a certain degree of urbanization, provided the water remains clean.

This species is resident in areas where the climate is mild year-round, but must migrate after breeding from regions with prolonged freezing conditions in winter. Most birds winter within the southern parts of the breeding range, but smaller numbers cross the Mediterranean into Africa or travel over the mountains of Malaysia into Southeast Asia. Kingfishers migrate mainly at night, and some Siberian breeders must travel at least 3,000 km (1,900 mi) between the breeding sites and the wintering areas.

The common kingfisher hunts from a perch 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) above the water, on a branch, post or riverbank, bill pointing down as it searches for prey. It bobs its head when food is detected to gauge the distance and plunges steeply down to seize its prey usually no deeper than 25 cm (9.8 in) below the surface. The wings are opened underwater and the open eyes are protected by the transparent third eyelid. The bird rises beak-first from the surface and flies back to its perch. At the perch the fish is adjusted until it is held near its tail and beaten against the perch several times. Once dead, the fish is positioned lengthways and swallowed head-first. A few times each day, a small greyish pellet of fish bones and other indigestible remains is regurgitated.

The food is mainly fish up to 12.5 cm (4.9 in) long, but the average size is 2.3 cm (0.91 in). In Central Europe, 97% of the diet was found to be composed of fish ranging in size from 2 to 10 cm with an average of 6.5 cm (body mass range from 10 g, average 3 g). Minnows, sticklebacks, small roach and trout are typical prey. About 60% of food items are fish, but this kingfisher also catches aquatic insects such as dragonfly larvae and water beetles, and, in winter, crustaceans including freshwater shrimps. In Central Europe, however, fish represented 99.9% of the diet (data from rivers, streams, and reservoirs from years 1999 to 2013). Common kingfishers have also been observed to catch lamprey. One study found that food provisioning rate increased with brood size, from 1498 g (505 fishes for four nestlings) to 2968 g (894 fishes for eight nestlings). During the fledging period each chick consumed on average 334 g of fish, which resulted in an estimated daily food intake of 37% of the chick's body mass (average over the entire nestling period). The average daily energy intake was 73.5 kJ per chick (i.e., 1837 kJ per 25 days of the fledging period).

A challenge for any diving bird is the change in refraction between air and water. The eyes of many birds have two foveae (the fovea is the area of the retina with the greatest density of light receptors), and a kingfisher can switch from the main central fovea to the auxiliary fovea when it enters water; a retinal streak of high receptor density which connects the two foveae allows the image to swing temporally as the bird drops onto the prey. The egg-shaped lens of the eye points towards the auxiliary fovea, enabling the bird to maintain visual acuity underwater. Because of the positions of the foveae, the kingfisher has monocular vision in air, and binocular vision in water. The underwater vision is not as a sharp as in air, but the ability to judge the distance of moving prey is more important than the sharpness of the image.

Each cone cell of a bird's retina contains an oil droplet that may contain carotenoid pigments. These droplets enhance color vision and reduce glare. Aquatic kingfishers have high numbers of red pigments in their oil droplets; the reason red droplets predominate is not understood, but the droplets may help with the glare or the dispersion of light from particulate matter in the water.

For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_kingfisher

Chris @ Brickfair VA

Recognize her eyes? I was inspired by my day of the dead custom flower eye chips :)

The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a bird of prey found in North America that is most recognizable as the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle. Its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States and northern Mexico. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting.

The Bald Eagle is a large bird, with a body length of 71–106 cm (28–42 in), a wingspan of 183–234 cm, (72–96 in), and a mass of 3–7 kg (6.6–15.5 lb); females are about 25 percent larger than males.[2][3] The adult Bald Eagle has a brown body with a white head and tail, and bright yellow irises, taloned feet, and a hooked beak; juveniles are completely brown except for the yellow feet. Males and females are identical in plumage coloration. Its diet consists mainly of fish, but it is an opportunistic feeder. It hunts fish by swooping down and snatching the fish out of the water with its talons. It is sexually mature at four years or five years of age. In the wild, Bald Eagles can live up to thirty years, and often survive longer in captivity.[4] The Bald Eagle builds the largest nest of any North American bird, up to 4 meters (13 ft) deep, 2.5 meters (8 ft) wide, and one tonne (1.1 tons) in weight.[2]

The species was on the brink of extinction in the continental United States (while flourishing in much of Alaska and Canada) late in the 20th century, but now has a stable population and has been officially removed from the U.S. federal government's list of endangered species. The Bald Eagle was officially reclassified from "Endangered" to "Threatened" on July 12, 1995 by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. On July 6, 1999, a proposal was initiated "To Remove the Bald Eagle in the Lower 48 States From the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife." It was delisted on June 28, 2007.

The Bald Eagle remains a protected and highly revered species in the United States, and to willfully and fatally shoot or harm the species is a federal offense which can potentially result in several years of incarceration.

Recognized as an architectural masterpiece among Catholic churches in the south, it is today the spiritual home of a vibrant Catholic community who welcomes visitors from near and far away. The construction of this place of worship was begun in 1842 as a Cathedral in the newly established Diocese of Natchez, and St. Mary retained this status until 1977

57th Street and 5th Avenue

New York City

The common kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), also known as the Eurasian kingfisher and river kingfisher, is a small kingfisher with seven subspecies recognized within its wide distribution across Eurasia and North Africa. It is resident in much of its range, but migrates from areas where rivers freeze in winter.

This sparrow-sized bird has the typical short-tailed, large-headed kingfisher profile; it has blue upperparts, orange underparts and a long bill. It feeds mainly on fish, caught by diving, and has special visual adaptations to enable it to see prey under water. The glossy white eggs are laid in a nest at the end of a burrow in a riverbank.

This species has the typical short-tailed, dumpy-bodied, large-headed, and long-billed kingfisher shape. The adult male of the western European subspecies, A. a. ispida has green-blue upperparts with pale azure-blue back and rump, a rufous patch by the bill base, and a rufous ear-patch. It has a green-blue neck stripe, white neck blaze and throat, rufous underparts, and a black bill with some red at the base. The legs and feet are bright red. It is about 16 centimetres (6.3 in) long with a wingspan of 25 cm (9.8 in), and weighs 34–46 grams (1.2–1.6 oz). The female is identical in appearance to the male except that her lower mandible is orange-red with a black tip. The juvenile is similar to the adult, but with duller and greener upperparts and paler underparts. Its bill is black, and the legs are also initially black. Feathers are moulted gradually between July and November with the main flight feathers taking 90–100 days to moult and regrow. Some that moult late may suspend their moult during cold winter weather.

The flight of the kingfisher is fast, direct and usually low over water. The short, rounded wings whirr rapidly, and a bird flying away shows an electric-blue "flash" down its back.

In North Africa, Europe and Asia north of the Himalayas, this is the only small blue kingfisher. In south and southeast Asia, it can be confused with six other small blue-and-rufous kingfishers, but the rufous ear patches distinguish it from all but juvenile blue-eared kingfishers; details of the head pattern may be necessary to differentiate the two species where both occur.

The common kingfisher has no song. The flight call is a short, sharp whistle chee repeated two or three times. Anxious birds emit a harsh, shrit-it-it and nestlings call for food with a churring noise.

The common kingfisher is widely distributed over Europe, Asia, and North Africa, mainly south of 60°N. It is a common breeding species over much of its vast Eurasian range, but in North Africa it is mainly a winter visitor, although it is a scarce breeding resident in coastal Morocco and Tunisia. In temperate regions, this kingfisher inhabits clear, slow-flowing streams and rivers, and lakes with well-vegetated banks. It frequents scrubs and bushes with overhanging branches close to shallow open water in which it hunts. In winter it is more coastal, often feeding in estuaries or harbors and along rocky seashores. Tropical populations are found by slow-flowing rivers, in mangrove creeks and in swamps.

Common kingfishers are important members of ecosystems and good indicators of freshwater community health. The highest densities of breeding birds are found in habitats with clear water, which permits optimal prey visibility, and trees or shrubs on the banks. These habitats have also the highest quality of water, so the presence of this bird confirms the standard of the water. Measures to improve water flow can disrupt this habitat, and in particular, the replacement of natural banks by artificial confinement greatly reduces the populations of fish, amphibians and aquatic reptiles, and waterside birds are lost. It can tolerate a certain degree of urbanization, provided the water remains clean.

This species is resident in areas where the climate is mild year-round, but must migrate after breeding from regions with prolonged freezing conditions in winter. Most birds winter within the southern parts of the breeding range, but smaller numbers cross the Mediterranean into Africa or travel over the mountains of Malaysia into Southeast Asia. Kingfishers migrate mainly at night, and some Siberian breeders must travel at least 3,000 km (1,900 mi) between the breeding sites and the wintering areas.

The common kingfisher hunts from a perch 1–2 m (3.3–6.6 ft) above the water, on a branch, post or riverbank, bill pointing down as it searches for prey. It bobs its head when food is detected to gauge the distance and plunges steeply down to seize its prey usually no deeper than 25 cm (9.8 in) below the surface. The wings are opened underwater and the open eyes are protected by the transparent third eyelid. The bird rises beak-first from the surface and flies back to its perch. At the perch the fish is adjusted until it is held near its tail and beaten against the perch several times. Once dead, the fish is positioned lengthways and swallowed head-first. A few times each day, a small greyish pellet of fish bones and other indigestible remains is regurgitated.

The food is mainly fish up to 12.5 cm (4.9 in) long, but the average size is 2.3 cm (0.91 in). In Central Europe, 97% of the diet was found to be composed of fish ranging in size from 2 to 10 cm with an average of 6.5 cm (body mass range from 10 g, average 3 g). Minnows, sticklebacks, small roach and trout are typical prey. About 60% of food items are fish, but this kingfisher also catches aquatic insects such as dragonfly larvae and water beetles, and, in winter, crustaceans including freshwater shrimps. In Central Europe, however, fish represented 99.9% of the diet (data from rivers, streams, and reservoirs from years 1999 to 2013). Common kingfishers have also been observed to catch lamprey. One study found that food provisioning rate increased with brood size, from 1498 g (505 fishes for four nestlings) to 2968 g (894 fishes for eight nestlings). During the fledging period each chick consumed on average 334 g of fish, which resulted in an estimated daily food intake of 37% of the chick's body mass (average over the entire nestling period). The average daily energy intake was 73.5 kJ per chick (i.e., 1837 kJ per 25 days of the fledging period).

A challenge for any diving bird is the change in refraction between air and water. The eyes of many birds have two foveae (the fovea is the area of the retina with the greatest density of light receptors), and a kingfisher can switch from the main central fovea to the auxiliary fovea when it enters water; a retinal streak of high receptor density which connects the two foveae allows the image to swing temporally as the bird drops onto the prey. The egg-shaped lens of the eye points towards the auxiliary fovea, enabling the bird to maintain visual acuity underwater. Because of the positions of the foveae, the kingfisher has monocular vision in air, and binocular vision in water. The underwater vision is not as a sharp as in air, but the ability to judge the distance of moving prey is more important than the sharpness of the image.

Each cone cell of a bird's retina contains an oil droplet that may contain carotenoid pigments. These droplets enhance color vision and reduce glare. Aquatic kingfishers have high numbers of red pigments in their oil droplets; the reason red droplets predominate is not understood, but the droplets may help with the glare or the dispersion of light from particulate matter in the water.

For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_kingfisher

If you live in Europe or Nordic countries you will probably recognize this already an iconic red toy oven by BRIO. In Finland many generations of us have played with them and I remember them too from my childhood. There are of course modernized versions of toy ovens in the market with all the flashy lights, sounds and whatever, but I feel that a simple one gets the job done best. It was one of our most wanted Christmas present and we have already had couple of fresh meals done with it.

I'm pretty satisfied with this picture, even if I missed focus a bit. As much as I'm trying to develop my own approach to photography, I find these kind of shots most important. I could get all the recognition in the world, Flickr-favourites and photography awards (hah, like I actually could get any of those), but it can't touch the simple fact that photographing Auras first years is most important and long-lasting photographic catalog I'm going to make in my life. Documenting and constructing an imagery of her childhood is, I think, an important mission which will be stratified into her identity later on. Of course there is a whole culture of social relations involved too, but visual sources are also important part of that. While these photographs will become windows to her forgotten past, it makes me ask, how should I approach this mission, which is undeniably too challenging to any photographer? I guess the answer is same as with parenthood in general: as good as I can with all the values, knowledge and discernment I have available today. Trying to photograph everything that feels important. And what could be more important than Aura playing for the first time with her soon precious to become toy oven.

Year of the Alpha – 365 Days of Sony Alpha Photography: www.yearofthealpha.com

November 7, 2042

29 years have passed since Bruce Wayne retired as Batman. He and Selina Kyle moved to Corto Maltese, a country where the ‘’Caped Crusader of Gotham’’ is nothing more than an urban myth, and have led a safe life there. After changing their identities to Matches Malone and Irena Dubrovna respectively to avoid them getting recognized, the two married a few decades earlier and got a daughter named Helena together roughly 17 years ago. Although Bruce sometimes misses the life he lived before this, he wouldn’t trade his current one for anything.

It is a quiet night when Bruce gets awoken by some noise coming from the kitchen. He tries to get back to sleep, but hears something isn’t right when he hears something clattering on the ground. Bruce gets out of bed, puts on a dark red bathrobe and walks downstairs to investigate. Making sure to walk as silently as possible in order to remain unnoticed, he takes a peek around the corner but doesn’t find anything out of the ordinary there. Everything is just as he left it the day before, without any signs of a break-in. He prepares to head back to bed as he notices some sound coming from upstairs now. He hears a window opening in another room, but as he slams open the door he finds another empty room. He takes a look outside the window he heard getting opened which has a view over the wide garden of their house, but he fails to spot anything there either. Bruce decides to leave it be for now and to contact the authorities the next morning as he returns to bed. However, as he enters the bedroom, he is met with a gruesome sight.

Before him he sees his wife Selina reaching for her throat, struggling to breathe as blood spills everywhere. He rushes to help her and notices that her throat has been slit open by a sharp object. Knowing that he can’t do anything to help her himself Bruce grabs the phone on the nightstand and dials 911 hoping that he can save her life that way. He gets connected to an emergency medical dispatcher and gives the necessary information to call an ambulance. After this, he lifts her up out of bed and carries her downstairs to make it easier for the paramedics to get her in the ambulance, trying everything to comfort her as he does so. He lays her on the couch as he hears the sirens of the ambulance approaching in the distance. The paramedics rush inside the house, putting her on a brancard and bringing her into the ambulance as Bruce can only watch. He stands next to the brancard in the ambulance, holding her hand as he hears the heartbeat monitor flatlining.

A week has passed since the murder on Selena. Both Bruce and Helena are still processing the event. Despite the best work from the local police force they did not manage to find any clues as to who did it, leaving them without a single idea as to why it happened. After not having slept for almost a week and refusing to enter the place where his wife got her throat slit, Bruce decides to finally go in there to clean the mess from that night. As he takes the blood-stained sheets off the bed, he sees something weird under the sheets; a playing card with a bloody, golden knife pierced through it. He takes the knife out of it and takes a look at the card, noting a short message written on there in a messy handwriting.

“Why the long face, Bruce? I know this truly puts a smile on my own face.”

He turns over the card, almost losing his balance in shock as he sees the trademark design Joker always used on the front of the card. Despite him finding out his identity years ago and ruining his life shortly after, Bruce hoped that he would leave him alone now that he is retired. He looks up what he has been up to for the past years, and finds out Joker has supposedly been in the highest security wing of Arkham for the past 25 years. Despite his instincts telling him to leave it be and just continue to make the most of his retirement, he can't seem to shake off the urge to return to Gotham to get to the bottom of this.

A couple of days later, Helena gets awoken by her dad early in the morning. She puts on some clothes and steps outside her room as her dad prompts her to follow him to the attic. As they are making their way there, Bruce asks her if she ever heard of the Batman. Although she has read the rumors online of a vigilante dressed as a bat fighting crime in Gotham for several years, she never really believed them to be real. Despite all of the evidence, from pictures in newspapers to blurry videos of somebody in a bat costume flying over Gotham, something about it just seemed weird to her. Knowing that her parents lived in that city for some time she did ask them about it once, but her dad said all the stories were just hoaxes made up by the police force in order to scare off criminals.

After walking up the stairs Bruce turns on a light to illuminate the messy attic. He makes his way over to a wooden closet in the back with a big padlock around the door. As he looks around for something, Helena notices a lot of little trinkets filling up the attic; some kind of jester hat, a glass dome with an old handgun in it, a cane with a weird question mark on it along with a bunch of other items. Bruce finds the key and opens the closet, revealing a suit hanging upside down in it. Helena notices a bat symbol on the chest of the suit as she begins to put together the pieces; her dad was Batman. She picks up a bat-shaped weapon from the ground as Bruce takes the suit out of the closet.

“Pack up your stuff.” Bruce says. “We’re going to Gotham.”

---------------------------

A few days later, after getting on the next flight to Gotham City and after telling Helena of his suspicions, the two arrive in the city. Although Bruce didn’t expect Gotham to look exactly like how it did when he left with Selina almost 30 years ago, he’s still shocked to see how much it changed. As he looks at the skyline of the city through the window of the airport, he sees that the dark and mundane buildings of the city he used to know have all been replaced with tall, futuristic skyscrapers. All personnel on the airport have also been replaced with androids and computer systems. While Bruce struggles to get used to this new and completely different Gotham, Helena guides them to a metro line leading right into the center of the city.

Another hour passes before the two find their way to the center of Gotham, making their way towards the newly rebuilt Wayne Enterprises building; a gigantic black structure, contrasting sharply with the clean lightly colored buildings surrounding it and with a big neon-lit sign on top of the roof. Knowing he left most of the gadgets he used as Batman in one of the floors of the building, Bruce hopes that he can still find and use them. He tries to enter, but he gets halted by a security guard asking him why he wants to enter the building. Bruce directs the guards attention towards the sign on the structure as he pulls out his ID-card, making sure to point out the fact that the name plastered on the building belongs to him. The guard nods and lets the two in, turning on his earpiece and muttering something to the person on the other end as he does so.

As they find themselves in the lobby, a well-dressed young man approaches Bruce and Helena. He introduces himself as Lucius Fox Jr, current CEO of Wayne Enterprises and son of the late Fox Sr, who he used to know back during his prime as a vigilante. He talks about the stories his father used to tell about him before getting to the reason he is here. Fox guides them to one of the elevators in the building and touches in a specific code into the panel after they enter. A fingerprint scanner flips open from the wall as he asks Bruce to put his thumb on it. He does so and feels the elevator descending downwards right after, despite there officially not being any levels below ground in this building. The elevator stops going down after a short while, giving way to a dimly lit storage area filled with items hidden under big pieces of cloth when the doors open. Bruce walks over to one of the bigger items and takes the cloth of it, seeing that someone put the Batmobile under there. He walks around the place and takes a look at more of the items, seeing that most of what he stored in the Batcave when he retired has been put in here. He sees that one of his batarangs, an old prototype for a suit for Robin and even the old Batsignal were brought to this place. As Bruce shows Helena some of the objects, reminiscing about when he was still in his prime, he suddenly hears a female voice behind him.

He turns around and sees Barbara Gordon sitting in a wheelchair behind him. She and him haven’t seen each other since the Joker paralyzed her from the waist down almost thirty years ago, with Barbara cutting off all contact with him shortly after the incident. She begins talking about how after Bruce left Gotham nobody was left to look after Wayne Manor. Roughly 15 years ago, when plans were announced to tear down the vacant house, Lucius Fox took it upon himself to get all of the items left in the Batcave out of there before someone would stumble on them during the demolition. Out of the faint hope that the Dark Knight would one day return to Gotham, he decided to store all of his items right under the Wayne Enterprises building instead of destroying them.

During this time, Barbara had moved back to Gotham and got a position within the GCPD again. She got assigned to lead the investigation behind the addicting, strength-enhancing drug known as Venom which had been becoming more and more popular in Gotham over the past years. Due to it becoming more and more difficult to keep track of all the Venom-related incidents within the city, she reached out to Wayne Enterprises for help. Fox Jr. showed her the storage space and asked her to help him look after the Dark Knight's gadgets. Although she refused at first, wanting nothing to do with Bruce and the Batman after the incident at Wayne Manor, she eventually agreed in case he would ever return to Gotham.

Barbara then shows Bruce something she has been working on in the past years. After the company abandoned their contract to make military equipment years ago, many projects which were still a work in progress got scrapped and left behind in the Applied Science division. One of these projects was a prototype for an exosuit which would give more strength to older or wounded soldiers, allowing them to be more effective in battle despite their handicaps. Seeing how Bruce isn’t as strong as he was in his prime almost 30 years ago, she modified and prepared the prototype for him to use as a new suit. He walks over to the suit, seeing a gun-metal gray suit with a black cowl and purple gloves outfit on display. He contemplates his decision for a moment, doubting if adopting his Dark Knight-persona again is the right choice, but the thought of figuring out who was behind the murder on his wife finally convinces him to do it. Right next to his outfit is an old, red and green-colored suit originally intended for Duke Thomas to which Helena takes a liking. Bruce tries to talk her out of it at first, remembering the guilt he felt after letting the first Robin getting killed, but her insisting on helping solve the murder on her mother persuades him to let his daughter help him out.

A few days have passed when a young man walks down Park Row, now more commonly known as Crime Alley after the murder on the Waynes took place there almost 50 years ago. After finishing his 10-hour shift at LexCorp all he wants to do is go home, but his way gets blocked by a figure emerging from the shadows. He tries to turn around, but two other people are blocking the way there as well. He notices they are all holding some kind of weapon in their hands as one of them asks him to hand over his valuable possessions. The man, paralyzed with fear, finds himself too scared to do anything. Seeing that the man isn’t complying with them, the criminal commands the other two people to beat the man up and to take whatever valuable he has from him after that. They approach the young man, but the two stop in their tracks as the streetlights illuminating the alley suddenly all burst apart. All of the criminals get their phones out of their pockets and turn on the flashlights to investigate as they find a weird, bat-shaped weapon on the ground. Before any of them can react, a shadowy figure drops from the rooftop and lands on top of one of the criminals, knocking him out instantly. The young man drops to the ground in fear while the remaining criminals aim their flashlights at the figure. Before them stands a person with most of his figure hidden behind a completely black cape, wearing a cowl with spikes on top of it. While they can't see the face of the person, the white eyes of his cowl suddenly light up as he looks the two right in the face.

In their youth, every kid in Gotham heard the ghost stories of the Batman from their parents, who would come after them if they ever commit a crime. Most kids always thought this was just a myth told to keep their kids from doing anything stupid, but the two criminals are doubting the legitness of these stories as they lay their eyes upon the figure in front of them.

One of the criminals clenches his fist around the wooden baseball bat he’s holding and charges at the Batman. He swings the weapon at full force in an attempt to hit him, but Batman grabs the bat right before it strikes him and tests out the power of his new suit by breaking it in half with his hands. After throwing away the one half, he uses the other half to beat up the perpetrator. Once he’s done with him, Batman redirects his attention to the other criminal as he slowly approaches him. Out of fear he pulls out a gun from his back pocket, bringing Bruce back to what happened 50 years prior in this exact alley for a short moment. He fires the gun several times, but finds that the Batman is unphased by the bullets as he continues to steadily walk towards him. Before he’s able to run away, the Bat grabs him by the coat and lifts him in the air. He grabs the gun out of his hand and tosses him against the wall, breaking the gun in two and dropping it on the ground.

Then he turns to the young man who is still cowering in fear. He walks towards him as the man tries to get away too, scared that he is going to beat him up too, but stops once he sees that he is just offering him a hand to get up. For the first time since the start of the fight, Batman begins talking and warns him to not go through this alley again as he won't always be there to protect him. He unbuckles the grappling gun from his utility belt, but right before he goes away the man asks him who he is.

‘’Me?’’ He asks. ‘’I’m Batman.’’

Upon returning to the Wayne Enterprises building not too long after, Batman starts the engine of the Batmobile up for the first time in thirty years. Using Barbara’s connections with the Arkham Asylum, she was able to get him and Helena into the high-security wing of the prison in order to meet up with the Joker. After parking the vehicle in front of the gate, the two head inside to investigate the Clown Prince of Crime’s involvement with the murder on Selina. They register themselves at the front desk and have to follow a security guard in order to get to the proper wing. While they are walking through the lower-security wings of the prison Batman notices a lot of people, both inmates and employees of the facility, staring at him in disbelief. As they descend into the higher security levels Batman begins to see some more familiar faces like Edward Nigma, who is scribbling dozens of tiny question marks on the wall of his cell and even the Condiment King who tries to greet him like an old friend.

After making their way through the complex, the guard unlocks the big door leading to the high-security wing. As the gate opens in front of them, Batman and Robin see a long hallway with cells on each side. Despite almost every single cell having their lights on, the one at the end of the wall is completely dark. While Batman avoids any contact with the inmates in this wing, only focused

on the cell at the end of the hall, Helena takes her time to see who is in which cell. Although most of them are empty, she sees one with plants covering every inch of the cell belonging to Pamela Isley and another right next to the one Batman is walking towards containing Mr. Freeze, now not much more than a corpse being kept alive by his own suit. Batman stands in front of the dark room, only being able to make out a vague silhouette in the darkness. He orders the guard to turn on the light, and sees the Joker staring right into his eyes on the other side of the glass when the lights flicker on.

He has changed a lot since their final confrontation which led to the death of Duke Thomas; he abandoned his long tousled, spiked up hairstyle in favor of a shorter swept back one, his permanent white make-up almost seems to have faded from his skin, and his smile has disappeared from his face. While Joker does his best to strike a conversation with him, acting like he’s an old friend of his who he hasn’t seen in years and asking what made him come out of retirement, Batman only responds by taking the playing card out of his pocket and holding it in front of his face. Batman explains his suspicions, showing him the message on the back of the card. Joker becomes genuinely confused, stating that he hasn't used those cards in decades because he lost his motivation to commit crime after he drove the Dark Knight out of Gotham. Along with that he has been on constant supervision within this prison, locked behind bulletproof glass walls 24/7, so someone would’ve noticed if he got out of his cell to deliver the card somehow.

“Listen Bats, I know you don't trust me at all, but for once I'm not making some sick joke. I swear i was not involved with the murder on your wife.”

After this, Joker asks to see it for himself stating that he might be able to figure out some more clues. He manages to slip his fingers through one of the openings in the glass wall, insisting him to hand over the card. Batman hesitates for a moment, but agrees to give it to him in a moment of desperation. He attentively looks at it from all angles, noting how the handwriting is just slightly off from how he actually writes and how the design of the card doesn’t quite match up to what he used as well. As he asks Bruce if he even bothered to check the item for any traces of DNA on it before coming up with this plan, he notices some low beeping coming from the inside of the card. He tears it open without a second thought, discovering that a strange flat device with a blinking light has been sitting in the card this whole time. Joker tosses the torn pieces of the card away to examine the thing, seeing the symbol of an owl embedded on the back of it. Before Joker can comment on it, the device begins beeping louder and louder while the light begins blinking faster as well. Batman realizes he unknowingly gave the Joker an explosive and tries everything he can to prevent it from going off, but it's too late. Joker looks him in the eye for one last time, putting a big smile on his face right before he gets engulfed in a sea of flames.

Batman and Robin manage to get out of the blast zone just in time. After the dust settles, he sees that the entire back of the prison wing has been obliterated. Nothing’s left of Joker and his cell along with the ones holding Freeze and Ivy next to it. Only some smoldering pieces of the playing card remain, floating through the air and burning up before they can be salvaged. Alarms start going off as a group of guards rushes into the wing, forcing Batman and Robin out of the wing. As they get guided out of the building, moving past the chaos which has erupted in the other parts of the facility, Batman is struggling to comprehend what he just witnessed. His head’s filled with burning questions; Why did someone pretend that the Joker was behind the murder? Why was there an explosive hidden in the card? Why was there an owl printed on said explosive? And most importantly, why was it detonated at that exact moment?

The sun has begun to rise when Bruce and Helena return from their trip to Arkham. As they use a hidden entrance to get inside the Wayne Enterprises building, stories about the explosion in the prison start flooding every news station. Almost all of them point towards the Batman having brought an bomb into the facility on purpose in order to finally get rid of his arch nemesis, despite there not being a lot of actual evidence to support this. Bruce parks the Batmobile in the storage facility and steps out, looking around to see if Barbara is around here anywhere. He calls out for her, but as his voice echoes through the place without a response he begins to think something is not right. Bruce spots three figures standing in the distance, but before he can identify them the lights suddenly turn off. A voice echoes through the space, saying something about the ‘’Court of Owls’’ wanting to see the Dynamic Duo. He tries to approach them, but suddenly feels a small dart piercing through his cowl and hitting him in the neck. He falls to the ground, feeling himself getting dragged away towards the Court as his vision turns black.

-----------------------------

Perry is proudly recognized as the Tree Capital of the South cozily nestled along Florida's Nature Coast. We are a family friendly community in which to raise your children, work, or simply to stop by and visit. Our historic downtown is lined with friendly home town shops and features our recently restored steam locomotive era train station. Perry is a full-service, low cost place to call home.

The City has been honored to receive the highest national financial reporting award for twenty years in a row. Our taxes are lower than over 170 other cities in Florida. We are home to an "A" scholastically rated high school. We have a variety of festivals throughout the year highlighted by the Florida Forest Festival which includes the "World's Largest Free Fish Fry." Some of the finest fresh and saltwater fishing (including scalloping) is centered here.

Hunters come from all over to experience prime Nature Coast hunting. Many freshwater springs, including the world's largest, are just minutes away. The area's economy is diverse with both manufacturing and agricultural employment opportunities. Our state of the art hospital recently opened a multi-million dollar medical arts facility. We welcome you to learn more, come visit, and experience family friendly Perry!

Perry, Florida was first called Rosehead. It is not known how this name was chosen. In 1875 the name was changed to Perrytown after Madison Stark Perry, Florida's fourth Governor. Later the "town" was dropped and the name became Perry.

The City of Perry is the only incorporated city in Taylor County, Florida. It was incorporated in 1903 and adopted its City Charter on May 12, 1981. The City's population as of 2004 was estimated to be 6,703. (U. S. Census Bureau)

Credit for the data above is given to the following website:

www.cityofperry.net/

Meet Edison

A hermit crab using a incandescent light bulb screw end as a protective home. I find many light bulbs washed ashore. This is a good example of adaptive behavior. I found five crabs with beach trash homes tonight.

* All Coenobita species in Okinawa are recognized as a Living Natural Monument.

Photography by Shawn M Miller

Crabs with beach trash homes by Shawn Miller

TEDX OIST talk on this subject by Shawn Miller www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6FWCyVQcNA

Read more about this project

okinawanaturephotography.com/crabs-with-beach-trash-homes...

My series has been featured on-

abcnews.go.com/US/national-geographic-launches-effort-red...

www.businessinsider.com/hermit-crabs-using-trash-as-homes...www.nationalgeographic.nl/galerij/10x-krabben-in-huisjes-...

petapixel.com/2016/08/30/photos-hermit-crabs-beach-trash-...

www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-trash-homes-of-hermit-c...

www.news.com.au/technology/science/animals/crabs-are-reso...

www.thedodo.com/hermit-crabs-trash-shells-2001062931.html

www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/oceans-so-polluted-crabs...

www.plethorist.com/crabs-adapt-and-uses-plastic-caps-as-h...

www.dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/science/crabs-living...

www.hypedojo.com/you-wont-believe-what-these-hermit-crabs...

The Mallard, or Wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos[1]), probably the best-known and most recognizable of all ducks, is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and sub-tropical Americas, Europe, Asia, New Zealand (where it is currently the most common duck species), and Australia.

The male birds have a bright green head, while the female's is light brown. The Mallard lives in wetlands, eats water plants, and is gregarious. It is also migratory. The Mallard is the ancestor of all domestic ducks, and can interbreed with other species of genus Anas.[2] This interbreeding is causing rarer species of ducks to become genetically diluted.

The Mallard is 56–65 centimetres (22–26 in) long, has a wingspan of 81–98 centimetres (32–39 in), and weighs 0.9–1.2 kilograms (32–42 oz). The breeding male is unmistakable, with a bright green head, black rear end and a yellowish orange (can also contain some red) bill tipped with black (as opposed to the dark brown bill in females), and is also nature's most feared duck. The female Mallard is light brown, like most female dabbling ducks. However, both the female and male Mallards have distinct purple speculum edged with white, prominent in flight or at rest (though temporarily shed during the annual summer moult). In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage the drake becomes drab, looking more like the female, but still distinguishable by its yellow bill and reddish breast.

In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and other colours. Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic Mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc., where they are rare but increasing in availability.

A noisy species, the male has a nasal call, the female has a "quack" stereotypically associated with ducks.[3]

The Mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has numerous examples in birds. Allen's Rule says that appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar forms to minimize heat loss, and larger in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that the polar taxa are stockier overall. Examples of this rule in birds are rare, as they lack external ears. However, the bill of ducks is very well supplied with blood vessels and is vulnerable to cold.

Minor activity of Aurora Borealis is easily recognized at left side of Earth's limb in this 24-mm image photographed by one of the Expedition 30 crew members aboard the International Space station from approximately 240 miles above Earth. Clouds obscure what would be any recognizable points on the planet. A section of one of the solar array panels on the orbital outpost is seen in upper left.

Image credit: NASA

Original image:

spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/station/crew-30/html/...

More about space station research:

www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/research/index.html

There's a Flickr group about Space Station Research. Please feel welcome to join! www.flickr.com/groups/stationscience/

View more than 400 photos like this in the "NASA Earth Images" Flickr photoset:

www.flickr.com/photos/28634332@N05/

_____________________________________________

These official NASA photographs are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs. The photographs may not be used in materials, advertisements, products, or promotions that in any way suggest approval or endorsement by NASA. All Images used must be credited. For information on usage rights please visit: www.nasa.gov/audience/formedia/features/MP_Photo_Guidelin...

{7:20 P.M.}

Though his face is noticeably decaying, I recognize him. It all makes sense now. All this time I had no clue but now that I know. Now that I know who is underneath the mask it all clicks. It couldn’t be anyone other than him. He knew all of this. The only question is…

”Why?” I ask.

”Isn’t it obvious. You forgot about me. You moved on with Linda. We were so close and it took you less than a month to stop coming to see me. Less than a month to move on and forget. Did you even care? Did anything we do together even matter to you? All those memories for not?” His words pierced my heart. It’s true. I did forget to soon…

”But that still doesn’t give you reason to take Linda from me.”

”Does it not? She took your attention away from me.”

”Did you really expect me to waste my entire life sulking over your death?”

”The least you could do for not fighting harder to save mine.”

”I tried everything I possibly could.”

”Apparently you didn’t try hard enough or I wouldn’t have joined with the negative speed force.”

”How do y…”

”Know about the negative speed force? I’ve been here for a lot longer than you think, Wally. For every second you live out here I live ten more. All that time I spent fighting to stay alive. I would get glimpses of hope in time when you perhaps weren’t using your powers. I thought back to something. The Reverse Flash used powers that were opposite of yours. A negative speed force. Something I learned was that I would grow stronger every second you weren’t using your powers. That’s how I became faster than you.”

”Well all that to fail. You aren’t faster than me, Hunter.”

”That’s where you’re wrong. I didn’t really want to kill Linda, though as tempting as it was when I was so far ahead of you, I didn’t. No, truly the greatest thing to do in retaliation was to kill you.”

”No.”

”So, I slowed down and let you catch up to me.”

”No.”

”I let you knock me down.”

”N-no.”

”I allowed you to feel safe as you took my weapon from you.”

”No.”

”I let you feel hope.” In the matter of an instant, Hunter is up and grabs me by the throat. He lifts me into the air and reels back with his scythe. ”Just so I could rip it from you.”

“No!”

(BLAM! BLAM!)

The sound of bullets ejecting from the barrel of a gun fill the air. Hunter turns back to see the two bullets getting ever closer to the pair of us.

“Or…” Hunter lowers me to the ground and stands me in front of the bullets. ”Have your own girlfriend kill you. Sweet, sweet revenge.”

The bullets get closer and closer to Hunter and I. He holds me so I can’t move. I need to think fast.

”Good-bye, Wally…”

Spirituality is a very personal thing. If more humans would recognize and respect this fundamental principle, our 'leaders' would be less capable of using 'religion' to their adavantage.

La spiritualité est une chose très personnel. Si les humains reconaissaient et respectaient ce principe, les soi-disants 'meneurs' de ce monde seraient moins capable d'utiliser la religion à leurs avantages.

better view

www.jeanpaulboudreauphotographie.com

If you recognize yourself and want me to remove the photo, you can ask me at the email address mentioned on my profile and I will proceed accordingly. Thank you

Pokud se poznáváte a chcete, abych fotografii odstranil/a, můžete mě o to požádat na e-mailové adrese uvedené v mém profilu a já se dle toho pokusím. Děkuji

Opening in 1937, the Golden Gate Bridge is likely the most recognizable landmark from the west coast of the United States.

I processed this with the HDRsoft 32-bit HDR plug-in for Lightroom. Then did almost all of the processing within Lightroom. I had to go to Photoshop to clone out all the light trails from air traffic and a few stars. Sticking to Lightroom has sped up my processing quite a bit. I can usually finish processing 1 or 2 images a night, last night I went exclusively with the 32-bit HDR plug-in and Lightroom for almost all of my processing and I managed to get through 5 images.

There are a handful of effects I didn't use since I didn't open Nik Color Efex, and I missed out on some of the look that comes from Photomatix, but the 32-bit process is really clean and super fast. I think I'll keep flipping back and forth between Photomatix and the 32-bit plug-in, they're both fun ways to process images. Next up for me is learning techniques for Luminance Mask HDRs.

Does anyone recognize this church? I think it's somewhere in Yorkshire, but I can't remember for certain. Possibly near Castleton.

Internationally recognized composer Vangelis ( Pappapanathassiou ) stated in an interview on Al Jezeera News that he felt one of the most significant problems with modern culture was the loss of beauty. Everything is practical, functional with all possibilities of the enobling and uplifting power of beauty removed to facilitate so-called realistic practicalities. it is this perverted notion of beauty as impractical that I also wish to challenge.

Living in the city with the highest amount of ongoing construction in the world, even more than Qatar or Dubai, Toronto is being stuffed to the gills with ubiquitous 'glass box' condo towers. It's almost impossible to tell the architects apart, save for just a few. With such a minimal amount of consideration being given to beauty, never mind if the point tower craze fits into the neighbourhoods that are largely being threatened with destruction or not, a lot of this development is impressive in scale but most of it lacks soul and character.

Being deeply involved in several development projects in the city as a citizen-respondent on working groups etc, I spend a lot of time working to varying degrees of success with developers, planners and architects. It amazes me how little human considerations have any priority.

This series of images proposes another look at architecture with beauty and enoblement at the forefront of considerations. Gothic cathedrals, South Indian gopurams, Egyptian, Chinese and Mayan pyramids and even the Totems of North American indigenous peoples were all designed to facilitate and evoke awe and wonder.

My series asks, "what if we were to marry our technology and scientific bravura to an over-riding sensibility of beauty and inspiration"? "What if we were to advance enough, as cultures, and clearly and emphatically emphasized the role of beauty and inspiration as being fundamentally important to the well-being and uplifting of our peoples?"

These window or ceiling fantasies are offered as prospects for architectures of wonder.

View Large on Black !

Island Of Madagascar

Off The East Coast Of Africa

Berenty Reserve

Best Seen In Lightbox -

www.flickr.com/photos/42964440@N08/33558613398/in/photost...

Lemur looking for something in the distance.

Wikipedia- The ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) is a large strepsirrhine primate and the most recognized lemur due to its long, black and white ringed tail. It belongs to Lemuridae, one of five lemur families, and is the only member of the Lemur genus.

Like all lemurs it is endemic to the island of Madagascar. Known locally in Malagasy as maky ([makʲ] , spelled maki in French) or hira, it inhabits gallery forests to spiny scrub in the southern regions of the island. It is omnivorous and the most terrestrial of extant lemurs. The animal is diurnal, being active exclusively in daylight hours.

The ring-tailed lemur is highly social, living in groups of up to 30 individuals. It is also female dominant, a trait common among lemurs. To keep warm and reaffirm social bonds, groups will huddle together.

The ring-tailed lemur will sunbathe, sitting upright facing its underside, with its thinner white fur towards the sun. Like other lemurs, this species relies strongly on its sense of smell and marks its territory with scent glands.

The males perform a unique scent marking behavior called spur marking and will participate in stink fights by impregnating their tail with their scent and wafting it at opponents.

As one of the most vocal primates, the ring-tailed lemur uses numerous vocalizations including group cohesion and alarm calls. Experiments have shown that the ring-tailed lemur, despite the lack of a large brain (relative to simiiform primates), can organize sequences, understand basic arithmetic operations and preferentially select tools based on functional qualities.

The recognizable profile of the Pelican Nebula soars nearly 2,000 light-years away in the high flying constellation Cygnus, the Swan. Also known as IC 5070, this interstellar cloud of gas and dust is appropriately found just off the "east coast" of the North America Nebula (NGC 7000), another surprisingly familiar looking emission nebula in Cygnus. Both Pelican and North America nebulae are part of the same large and complex star forming region, almost as nearby as the better-known Orion Nebula. From our vantage point, dark dust clouds (upper left) help define the Pelican's eye and long bill, while a bright front of ionized gas suggests the curved shape of the head and neck. This striking synthesized color view utilizes narrowband image data recording the emission of hydrogen and oxygen atoms in the cosmic cloud. The scene spans some 30 light-years at the estimated distance of the Pelican Nebula. via NASA

Was walking around the Korail slum and I instantly recognized photographing this man 4 years back when I first visited the place.

The years have given him a wonderful gift- his hair & mustache bears shades of grey.

Korail slum, Dhaka.